Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal Volume 18 Volume XVIII Number 4 Volume XVIII Book 4 Article 1 2008 Why the "Single Entity" Defense Can Never Apply to NFL Clubs: A Primer on Property-Rights Theory in Professional Sports Marc Edelman New York Law School, Seton Hall University, Manhattanville College,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj Part of the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Commons, and the Intellectual Property Law Commons Recommended Citation Marc Edelman, Why the "Single Entity" Defense Can Never Apply to NFL Clubs: A Primer on Property- Rights Theory in Professional Sports, 18 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 891 (2008). Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj/vol18/iss4/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal by an authorized editor of FLASH: The Fordham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. 01_EDELMAN_031208_FINAL 3/12/2008 7:11:02 PM Why the “Single Entity” Defense Can Never Apply to NFL Clubs: A Primer on Property-Rights Theory in Professional Sports Marc Edelman* Over the past two decades, the National Football League (“NFL”) has become one of America’s most profitable collection of businesses.1 During this period the sum of NFL-club revenues has expanded from just under $970 million per year in 1989 to over $6.5 billion in 2008.2 NFL franchise values have also skyrocketed, with many clubs now valued at over $700 million per year.3 A PDF version of this article is available online at http://law.fordham.edu/publications/ article.ihtml?pubID=200&id=2758.